Socialite Jill Kelley skydived with commandos

Nov. 16, 2012
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Paula Broadwell holds a drink in the kitchen of her brother's house in Washington on Tuesday. Broadwell is CIA Director David Petraeus' biographer, with whom he had an affair that led to his abrupt resignation last Friday. / Cliff Owen/ AP

TAMPA - Among the perks socialite Jill Kelley received as a "friend" of MacDill Air Force Base was a parachute jump with an elite Special Operations Command team.

Kelley went skydiving with the Para Commandos on Oct. 29, 2010, said Col. Tim Nye, a spokesman for the Special Operations Command, which directs the Navy SEALS and other units. The jump - done in tandem with an experienced skydiver - was part of a community outreach program to local celebrities, athletes and the media.

More women participate, because there's a weight limit of 200 pounds, Nye said.

On Tuesday, Kelley's special pass to go on MacDill, also home to Central Command (CENTCOM), was revoked because of the investigations into her relationships with retired general David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director last week after Kelley's complaint to the FBI about anonymous harassing e-mails revealed he was having an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell, an Army reservists and Petraeus biographer. The Pentagon is also reviewing "potentially inappropriate" communications between Kelley and Allen, whose wife is one of her friends.

After clearing a background check, Kelley received her first "Friends of MacDill" pass - which allows easier access to the base - in November 2010, four months after Petraeus left Tampa.

Only about 800 civilians have them, WTSP-TV reports. One of them is Teresa Foss, chairwoman of the military affairs committee of the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

"Everybody does go through a security check, obviously, before you're given any kind of access," she said.

She said she sees the pass as a convenience that helps base supporters work on programs to bring food and supplies to new arrivals and enlisted personnel.

Foss says she's bothered that the "partying with brass" impression created this week by reports of Kelley's big parties might undermine volunteer efforts.

"People seeking notoriety and rubbing shoulders with the top brass on MacDill ... I would say 99% of the people involved in the Friends of MacDill program are not looking for that," Foss told WTSP, which is owned by Gannett, USA TODAY's parent company.

Occasionally the "friends" host dinners for high-ranking officials - but she said it's about forging relationships, not personal gain.

Kelley and her husband, Scott, a surgeon, were known for throwing lavish parties for members of the military in Tampa.

Unless a person held the rank of general or admiral, they weren't likely on the guest list, according to one retired senior officer who didn't want his name published.

"A colonel is about as low as (Kelley would) go," said the officer, who served at CENTCOM in Tampa and knows the players in the Petraeus scandal.

At one party, held on the front lawn adjacent to bustling Bayshore Boulevard, foreign officers outnumbered U.S. military about 10 to 1 as they mingled with the mayor and other local dignitaries, he said. There was a band, speakers and cocktails. The French and Italian officers seemed to enjoy themselves, he said.

"The opportunity to rub shoulders just doesn't happen on the base," he said.

On Sunday night, the Kelleys released a statement saying that they have been friends with Petraeus and his family for more than five years.

"We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children," the statement said.

Kelley has not spoken with reporters camped out around her six-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom brick house in one of the city's most fashionable neighborhoods. She leaves the house occasionally.

Over the past few days, Kelley has called police several times, trying to invoke purported "diplomatic protection" to keep the media and public away - even though she has no official title or standing.

Foreign Policy reports that the 37-year-old Kelley is an "honorary consul" to South Korea - a title described as symbolic, with no official responsibilities.

"You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well," Kelley told a 911 dispatcher, who agreed to pass the information along to police.

In three other calls to police on Monday, a caller identified herself as Jill Kelley and reported trespassers on her property.

"They're trying to push the door open; they won't leave," she says in one call.

"Are you sure you don't know who these people are?" the dispatcher asks.

Jill Kelley's Mercedes S500 with its honorary consul license plate remained parked in the three-car carriage house beside a Volvo sedan while members of the media camped in the alley behind the house.

Peeling paint and well-worn wooden rocking chairs on the porch in the posh North Hyde Park neighborhood gave an air of neglect in an area where most of the homes are meticulously landscaped. The Kelleys purchased the 1923 brick house in 2004 for $1.5 million.

"They are a lovely couple," said Aaron Fodiman, publisher of the glossy Tampa Bay Magazine, who has socialized with the Kelleys and attended parties at their home. "We are in shock over this. It's insane. Bizarre."

He says the city's social and charitable doors are open to anyone who comes "with a sincere desire to help."

"If you're famous enough, rich enough or charming enough, everybody wants you," he said. "The Kelleys are charming. They are nice. They live in a $1.5 million house on the most prestigious street. They go to the events. They donate. Why wouldn't people want to have them at a party?"

About six months ago, Jill Kelley became a volunteer for the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region, President Gary Springer said. She was introduced to the group by another volunteer, he said.

The council, one of 92 around the United States, partners with the State Department to coordinate professional exchanges with visitors from other countries as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program, Springer said.

Young and mid-career professionals and leaders spend three weeks in the United States "to basically have encounters with Americans to see how we live, work, learn and play," Springer said. "Many have never had any contact with Americans at all. It's part of the public diplomacy program of the United States."

The council in the Tampa Bay region manages hundreds of volunteers in nine counties, he said. The volunteers help host professional programming, cultural activities, social outings and home hospitality, he said.

Kelley has hosted "a couple of groups," Springer said.

"She's a delightful host," he said. "She's been a wonderful volunteer for the organization."

Now the Kelleys are not socializing. A knock at the door goes unanswered. They are not answering questions about their finances. They have been sued at least nine times for millions in debt.

The $2.1 million purchase of a three-story office building downtown ended in foreclosure. The couple defaulted on a $250,000 line of credit and owe thousands on credit cards.

Chase Bank sued for $25,880 in 2010. FIA Card Services sued in February for $79,876, including more than $75,000 in cash advances on a Visa Signature card. Regions Bank sued in August 2010 after the Kelleys failed to make payments on $250,000 borrowed July 19, 2005. The bank ultimately settled for $85,000 and required the Kelleys to pay $850 a month toward the debt.

There are other legal matters. Jill Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, moved in when her marriage broke up. She has contacted police at least five times since mid-2009, including once in 2010 over a possible stalker she said might have been related to her divorce.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Kelley tried in the summer to get the FBI to drop the investigation she triggered after it began churning up personal information.

The newspaper, quoting unidentified people familiar with the case, said Kelley, a fixture in Tampa's social and military community, developed "misgivings" after friends urged her to drop the matter, saying it would only cause bigger problems.

In the end, the probe led to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer and the source of the original threatening e-mails. That, in turn, uncovered Broadwell's extramarital affair with Petraeus, who was forced to resign last week as CIA director.

Broadwell, who was kept largely out of sight since the scandal broke, was spotted - and photographed - at her brother's home in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Allen's nomination to become the next commander of U.S. European Command as well as the NATO supreme allied commander in Europe was put on hold this week at the request of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

A senior U.S. official told the Associated Press that other senior U.S. officials who read the e-mails determined that the exchanges between Allen and Kelley were not sexually explicit or seductive but included pet names such as "sweetheart" or "dear."

The official said that while much of the communication - including some from Allen to Kelley - is relatively innocuous, some could be construed as unprofessional and would cause a reasonable person to take notice.

Allen, 58, has been allowed to stay in his job as commander of the Afghanistan War and provide a leading voice in White House discussions on how many troops will remain in Afghanistan - and for what purposes - after the U.S.-led combat operation ends in 2014.

The FBI decided to turn over the Allen information to the military once the bureau recognized it contained no evidence of a federal crime, according to a federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record and demanded anonymity. Adultery, however, is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Allen worked to save his imperiled career. He told Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he is innocent of misconduct, according to Col. David Lapan, Dempsey's spokesman.

At a news conference Wednesday in Perth, Australia, Panetta said, "No one should leap to any conclusions," and said he is fully confident in Allen's ability to continue to lead in Afghanistan. He added that putting a hold on Allen's European Command nomination was the "prudent" thing to do.